Wind elf
The Wind Elves (Ashtari: Wind Elfe, Elfskrit: Amesha) are a genus of elves. Biology The hair colour of the Wind elves are categorized into four groups. *The Light haired, a multitude of blondish colours. From white and silver to golden blond and dark blond. About 60% of all wind elves falls into this category. *The Raven haired, coloured pitch black. About 11% of all wind elves falls into this category. *The Earthen haired, a wide palette of brownish colours, even some with rich auburn. About 20% of all wind elves fall into this category. *Last are the God touched. Two coloures make up this category. The bluish haired who are said to be touched by Zethus and the very rare brightly red haired who are said to be touched by Mohira. They make up 8% and 1% of all wind elves. History Mythology In times before times, the gods of gods ruled the endless skies, joined through the ribbons of the motion or wind of creation. A young god of gods were born, her light the most perfect of lights. Sura she was named and all the gods of gods rejoiced at the brith of another of their siblings. As time passed she gave birth to many daughters, the most beautiful of daughters she named Solcu. Yet all were not well for the daughters. Many turned out barren, unable to bring forth children of their own. Only Solcu proved fertile as many a children were born and spread out all over her glory. The giants were the first, great beings of primordial power. Great and terrible, they tormented their mother. The mortal races sprang forth in the shadow of the giants, much death and destruction were given them by the giants. The plight and terror of the mortals brought forth the first of the gods, children of the giants. Rahman, god of light, stars and the sky and Heliset, goddess of death, darkness and mourning. They brought much peace to the mortals as they fought the giants. Other gods rose, foremost among them were Zethus, god of honour, justice, courage and lightning. Amatera, Mohira, Bhasr and many others rose to fight the giants. As the other gods fought it gave rest to Rahmam and Heliset. Heliset strove to give guidance to the fallen of the mortals, to give the living a chance at mourning their dead in peace. Through burning of the fallen they'd be freed from the chains of pain and suffering, being allowed peace. Rahmam instead gazed upon the mortals and chose some of them to be the foremost of all mortals. They would be called Ashtari, children of the motion, also known as the elves. Society Westland Duchy The Westland duchy is the oldest duchy of the unified Windland. The old tribe of Schwarzkronen were among the first three tribes who migrated to northwestern Yaleka. The name of the tribe means "Blackcrown", named so as they have the majority of raven haired elves. They marched on towards the mountains while the Lichtzeiger prefered the sunbathed coastal region and the Erdeicken settled for the deep oak forests. Always on the forefront of technological progression as the tribe most devoted to Bhasr, seeking out mineral rich lands to acquire the metals necessary for their latest creations. They encountered a remote dwarven mining settlement whom they befriended, nurturing a partnership with the Imperial dwarves in the fields of metalurgy and engineering that would last for millennium. It was the Chieftain and High shaman of the Schwarzkronen, Waldemar, who came up with the formula for a new type of steel which would be easier to produce, together with some of the finest dwarven smiths. He took the name of Stahlschmidt for himself and all of his kin, becoming the first duke of Westland. The Stahlschmidts have ruled Westland for three millennium, making it the richest duchy in al lof Windland, much thanks to the mineral rich eastern slopes of the Durvek mountain range. Their crest is coloured in rich gold and deep emerald green as they consider gold and emeralds their greatest wealth besides their superb steel. Silberdorf is the capital of Westland. It started out as the hub of mining and manufacturing on the edge of dwarven lands. As trade with the dwarves blossomed it grew to become a large city. Flachenland Duchy The Flachenland duchy, once known as Eickenland, is one of the oldest states of the unified Windland. The old tribe of Erdeicken settled the immense oak forests of central Windland, seeing it as a gift from their goddess Amatera. Erdeicken means World Oak in Ashtari. A clan that pride themselves in their ties to the earth and the lands, they started to clear the central forests for farming. After two millennium the former densly forested Eickenland had become a vast network of farmlands and orchards, sepeared by bands of oak trees. The Erdeicken learned at the end of the first millennium that too much clearing of land would degrade and spoil the soil, turning it into a dustbowl. The ruling duke of the time spent his lifetime to revitalize the impoverised soil, restoring it as the main breadbasket of Windland. It was renamed as Flachenland, to mirror how the land had been transformed. Erntenburg is the capital of Flachenland, the largest city in all of Windland. It was the unofficial capital of Windland prior to the end of the Little Wars. The Council of Dukes held their meetings here, debating issues which involved all the duchies, such as the declaration of eternal hostilities against the Täjara Empire which were uniformly voted for by the dukes. Grönenwald Duchy The Grönenwald Duchy is the largest duchy of Windland, covered by coniferous woods in the north and deciduous woods in the south. The Schwarzbogen tribe settled the north central woods of Windland during the second migrational wave. The tribe's name means "Blackbow". Named so after their legendary bows from the ancient past, large longbows made from the wonderous Ebon wood of northern Jebrak.Grönenwald they named the woods, meaning "Greenwood" in Ashtari. A reclusive tribe devoted to the Huntress, Artise. Waldenburg is the capital of Grönenwald. It became under siege by the Täjara Empire during their first crusade into Windland. The human legions broke against the thick granite walls with the Sturmmark and Westland forces hammering their rear, their strength spent enduring the howling winds of Nordland and the ceaseless harrassment of the elusive Elbenvors warriors. Sturmmark Duchy Elbenland Duchy Rosenland Duchy Colonial cities Westereichen: First city outside of Westland. Founded 2000 years ago as staging point against Täjara. Sudwachten: Founded a century into the conflict with Täjara. Guards the entrance into the Windless sea. The largest naval battle in Wind elven history were fought here against Täjara. It is recorded as the first major battle where a large number of cannons were used, which allowed the Wind elves to defeat the vastly numerically superior Täjaran fleet. Landsluss: Founded 1000 years ago to strengthen Wind elven presence in the eastern Yaleka. Osterburg: Founded 1800 years ago. Base of operations in the east against Täjara. Schwarzwald: Founded 200 years ago by Vandenar Stahlschmidt and his explorational expedition. Known for it's export of exotic herbs, spices, goods and the precious ebon wood of Jebrak. Wustbrisen: Founded 180 years ago. The last stop before explorers and adventurers enters the Jebrak desert, inhabited by centaurian tribes. Countless ruins can be found under the sands, the fabled capital of the proto-elves is rumored to be somewhere close to the inland sea. Sudereichen: Youngest of the seven cities, founded less than 100 years ago. A large fleet patrols it's waters as the relations with the Sudrovian ogres sours. Technology The Wind elves boast that they have the most advanced technology in the known world. It advanced in strides during the Little Wars as they learned to harness the power of steam. Now their steambased technology can be found all over the worlds thanks to the influence of the colonial cities. Humans who are enemies of Täjara are frequent customers of the Engineer's Union. Everything from primitive rifles to techlimbs which allows maimed warriors to be of use again. The techlimbs are among the inventions that the Union pride themselves with the most. An ingenious array of gears and parts controlled thorugh a complex pattern of magical runes which can be used as replacement for any lost arm or leg. The humans and other species pays their lost limb's weight in gold for a techlimb. Enormous steam engine installations powers the cities of Windland, enabling the Engineer's Union to innovate even more magnificent technology. The large steamships are rapidly replacing the old ships that relied only on sails and oars. These steamships uses the latest steam technology to propel themselves, aided by sails. Some of the most ingenious engineers belive that it's possible to achieve flight with the power of steam and a little bit of magic which would change the way wars are done for all eternity. So far it's just an ambitious idea but a handful have devoted their entire life to make it happen.The inventioned of the early rifle have changed the way the Wind elves fight, making the ancient use of spears and shields obsolete. Most research goes into combining technology and magic. To combine technology and magic has always been the most ambitious goal of most advanced sentient species as it's been proven to be vastly superior to anything technological or magical. The most legendary artifacts found from ancient times, even as far back as from the Age of Myths, are referred to as magitech. Untouched by time, they can perform what more primitive societies deem as miracles. Some scholars speculate that the ancient elven homeland had an abundance of magitech, probably developed together with the goblin empire of old or the various enclaves of half-giants which can be found all over the world. The only way to prove this hypothesis would be to find and excavate the buried complexes which is not without peril as folktales speak of terrors beyond elven imagination and elven imagination is as vast as the sky. Architecture Wind elven architecture follow four principals: Golden ratio, beauty, practicality and airy open spaces with a constant breeze. Wind, the motion of air or motion at all is the center point of wind elven philosophy and society. This has had the effect on their architecture that they prefer to build large airy buildings. Large rooms and corridors high of roof. Tall towers, mighty domes and enourmous halls. All built to accomodate a constant flow of air through the halls and rooms, simulating a slight breeze. Category: Races